Boomer: The Story of Michael Brawley

Today's story comes from Michael Brawley, aka "Boomer" by all the people that know him. I met Boomer when he was a student at Scott City High School. He wanted to send out a thank you note to several people that helped him get to this point in his life. I'll let him take it from here.

I have always had a special place in my heart for my hometown of Scott City, MO. I understand that while I may live in the Washington D.C. area, without a few special individuals that impacted my life, I wouldn’t be where I am today. These people that I will be mentioning probably have no idea that they had such a great impact on who I am today.

Derek McCord: Where to start? Coach McCord did more than he could ever imagine to help me be me. He’s the hardest working coach I have ever been around. He always made all of his players and everyone involved in his program feel like they were the most important person in the program. I have known Coach McCord for the better part of the last 24 years of my life. Almost all of my memories from high school involve him and the basketball program at SCHS. I never played a minute of basketball for him. That being said I was a manager for the program from fourth grade until my junior year of high school. Coach McCord taught me how to be prepared, organized, and how to be a leader. I can’t tell you how many times as a coach he prepared his team to beat a team that was more athletic or more talented. He never lost a game because of lack of preparation. He always had all his ducks in a row. Every program that he has ever been involved in has ran to perfection. It always blew my mind how detail oriented he was. His players would run through a brick wall if he asked them. Despite the town of Scott City being a football town when he arrived, when he left, it was a basketball town. He had to deal with a lot of criticism that wasn’t necessary due to the small-town mentality. He overcame all the pressure and was the best basketball coach in school history. Without Coach McCord I would not understand the values of preparation, being organized, and how to be a respected leader.

Kerry Thompson: This is as good of a person as I have ever met in my entire life. Without Coach K I would have never got my driver’s license. I still can’t believe that on homecoming my junior year of high school that he took me after school to take my driving test. Unbeknownst to him it was the first time that I have ever drove on the interstate. Coach K was always taking care of everyone. He did his best to make everyone feel special. He would always go out of his way to say hi to everyone. The amount of time and effort he put into being a coach and an educator while maintaining a great home life with his family is amazing. He was always there when you needed him no matter what or when you needed him. He showed me how to balance work and personal time. I know that he doesn’t realize the impact he had on my life. I just wanted to let him know that without out him I wouldn’t be as caring of a person as I am. I also wouldn’t be driving either….LOL

David Black: Coach Black was my junior high basketball coach and math teacher throughout high school. I honestly don’t think I have even met anyone as cool as Coach Black. As an educator and as a coach he made every day fun. As a coach, he taught me the importance of knowing every detail. I wouldn’t have ever had as much playing time if I wasn’t very detail oriented and knew our playbook front to back. He made our practices very fun but he worked our butts off!!!! As a teacher, he made every single day of math class fun. His teaching method was so relaxed. He made one of the least fun subjects to learn a blast!!!! He was so genuine and passionate when dealing with his players and students. Coach Black taught me to be caring and passionate about the people that work for me and the people that I have taught. He also made me a member of the coolest club of all time, the OOGA BOOGA club!!!!

Robert Stein: Stein-O-mite!!!! You have made an impact on my life for sure. We didn’t start off on the best terms if you smell what I’m cooking…..You taught me a lot about overcoming adversity. You have never had the best luck and kept pressing forward and working as hard as you can to succeed. You have always busted your butt to be successful. You taught me the importance of tough love. You always coached with all your heart and tried to get the most out of all your players. I know how much you care about what you do and I admire that more than you could ever know. The impact you had on my life taught me to be a hard worker. You also indirectly taught me to keep my head down and keep pressing forward no matter what obstacles that are in front of me.

I get a message like this about once a week, somebody saying something like "I don't even know if anybody would care to read this, but..." That is kind of the point of what Just Win Today is all about. It's a chance to say something nice. You don't have to be a teacher or a coach or somebody that anybody else would know. What Boomer did today inspired me because he told a couple of stories (like learning to drive) that are great examples of people doing something nice for somebody else.

And imagine being Kerry Thompson, who might not have even known this, and reading it 10-15 years later. Imagine how that might have made his day?

So if you have a good story to share, please just inbox me. You can also fill out the contact form on the website. I'd love to share your story.

Thank you, Boomer, for sharing yours! #JWT #JoinTheRevolution